Thursday Thunder at Irwindale: fast, furious, family

Safety crew member Todd Cable mops up spilled fluids from a vehicle between drag races during July 3's Thursday Night Thunder at the Irwindale Speedway. MARK FELIX , STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

1 of 18

Kevin Kalil waits for the light to turn green before his turn to drag race during Thursday Night Thunder at the Irwindale Speedway. MARK FELIX , STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

1 of 18

Two cars speed off down the track during Thursday Night Thunder drag racing at the Irwindale Speedway. MARK FELIX , STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

1 of 18

A driver accerlerates from the starting line during Thursday Night Thunder at the Irwindale Speedway. MARK FELIX , STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

1 of 18

Clouds of smoke fill the air as a driver burns out before taking his spot at the starting line to begin his drag race during Thursday Night Thunder at the Irwindale Speedway. MARK FELIX , STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

1 of 18

Matthew Pisano does a burnout before heading to the starting line during Thursday Night Thunder at the Irwindale Speedway. MARK FELIX , STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

A racer gets ready to run down the drag strip during Thursday Night Thunder. If you have a valid driver's license and a car that runs, you can race at TNT for a $20 entry fee. MARK FELIX , STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

IRWINDALE – A storm is brewing on a hot summer night. It’s 93 degrees outside, and deep, rumbling thunder can be heard from half a mile away.

Under a thick, white cloud of smoke, two cars emerge on the drag strip: a vintage Chevy Nova and a customized Honda Civic. With engines revving and a crowd cheering, the two cars peel out from the starting line and take off down a 1/8-mile strip, vying for best elapsed time.

This is Thursday Night Thunder – TNT – at the Irwindale Events Center, a weekly gathering where car enthusiasts from all walks of life come together to swap stories, share stats and scope out the competition.

It’s a place where friends become rivals for a night, where fathers teach their children about their passions, and where bragging rights cost as little as $20.

A FAMILY AFFAIR

“There’s really nothing like it,” said Amber Marquardt while leaning against her ride. The 23-year-old from Rancho Cucamonga races “Datzilla,” a 1976 souped-up green Datsun pickup that she shares with her dad, Steve. “I do it for the adrenaline.

“My dad made the mistake of bringing me out here to race. Now he’s my pit crew,” she added.

Marquardt took her first run in April 2013 and has been hooked since. It started as a way for father and daughter to bond, but now the elder Marquardt says, “She’s better than me!”

Although the truck doesn’t look flashy, the Marquardts say it can outrun a 2014 Chevrolet Corvette.

Every Thursday, there is a long line of participants ready to race. The event has grown in popularity so much that staff can accept only about 250 participants each week to ensure that every driver can take multiple runs before closing time.

Just about anyone can race at TNT, said Doug Stokes, vice president of communications for the Irwindale Event Center.

The only requirements are a valid driver’s license and a car that runs. Drivers arrive around 5 p.m., fill out a form and pay an entry fee to race their cars all night long.

“It’s sort of a grass-roots thing,” Stokes said of the Thursday night races. “These are not professionals like John Force and his daughters. These are regular people who are having a great time with a car.”

ONE OF A KIND

Racers come from across Southern California, from San Diego to Santa Barbara, with the most hailing from the San Gabriel Valley – home to a historic stretch of Route 66 and the National Hot Rod Association.

“This is a great track. It’s unfortunate that it’s only 1/8 mile, but that’s the way it is. There aren’t many other places to go,” Roaders Car Club President Dennis Jewell said. Jewell drives 40 miles from Granada Hills every week to attend Thursday Night Thunder.

“Here, it’s about making friends, getting people off of the street and putting them on a track where they can race safely,” Jewell said.

There are nine NHRA-sanctioned drag strips in California, with two in Los Angeles County. The other is the Auto Club Raceway in Pomona.

However, only Irwindale hosts public racing events. The Pomona drag strip hosts only professional NHRA races and doesn’t hold weekly community events.

“I’m here pretty much every Thursday night,” Jewell said. “Of course I race for the thrill and the excitement, but there’s also a strong camaraderie here. I’ve made a lot of friends over the years.”

Thursday Night Thunder brings together an eclectic bunch of people and cars.

Vintage and freshly minted four-cylinder sedans race side by side against beat-up ’70s muscle cars and modified imports that whiz by with a high-pitched treble.

But it’s not so much about the make or model that racers bring as it is about who wins the race.

“In drag racing, it’s not about how fast you went, and it’s not about what your time was. If you’re here to win, it’s about the first person at the finish line,” Stokes said.

Not all TNT attendees seek to out-race the car next to them. Plenty focus on improving their stats.

An important aspect to performing well is reaction time to the “Christmas tree,” the lights that signal when to start, Jewell said. With the short drag strip at Irwindale, reaction time is one of the most important aspects to winning a race.

Most NHRA strips are quarter-mile, equal to one city block, but Irwindale’s is half that size. So reaction time can make or break a race.

“The simplest things in racing are usually the things that take the most concentration,” Stokes said.

“You only have about eight seconds to do anything. It’s not like NASCAR and the Daytona 500.”

IF YOU’VE GOT IT, FLAUNT IT

Professional boxer Mikey Garcia, 26, sits in his candy-red 2013 Dodge Viper, waiting between a Ford F-250 truck and a Toyota Tercel.

Garcia has been a regular at Thursday Night Thunder for four years, though he usually is found in his supercharged 2010 Dodge Challenger SRT that he drives from Moreno Valley. It’s his first time bringing his Viper to the drag strip, where he plans to race against his friend’s Lamborghini.

“If you’ve got the car, you might as well take it out and enjoy it,” Garcia said. “You don’t really get to enjoy cars like this on the streets. You’ve got to take it out to the track to see what it can really do.

User Agreement

Keep it civil and stay on topic. No profanity, vulgarity, racial
slurs or personal attacks. People who harass others or joke about
tragedies will be blocked. By posting your comment, you agree to
allow Orange County Register Communications, Inc. the right to
republish your name and comment in additional Register publications
without any notification or payment.